Your women are tilth for you, so you may approach your tilth as you please and do good to
yourselves and revere God, and know that you will meet Him and give news to the believers. 2:223

The word "anna", which translates to (as you please), has been interpreted by some scholars to imply that husbands can force their wives to have sex at any time they please, and against their will! They add that women must obey their husband's call for sex at all times. They support their claim by means of a number of hadith which seem to justify this totally inaccurate interpretation of God's words in 2:223.

1- Narrarted Abu Huraira

The Messenger of Allah (Pbuh) said, "If a husband calls his wife to his bed (i.e. to have sexual relations) and she refuses and causes him to sleep in anger, the angels will curse her till morning." (Sahih Al-Bukhari Vol. 4 Hadith No. 460 & Sahih Muslim Vol. 2 Hadith No. 3368)

2- Narrated Abu Huraira

The Messenger of Allah (swt) said, "By him in whose hand is my life, when a man calls his wife to his bed, and she does not respond, the One Who is in the heaven is displeased with her until he (her husband) is pleased with her. (Sahih Muslim Vol. 2 Hadith No. 3367)

3- Narrated Taiq ibn Ali

Allah’s Messenger (Pbuh) said, "When a man calls his wife to satisfy his desire she must go to him even if she is occupied at the oven." (Al Tirmidhi Hadith No. 1160 & Ibn Ma’jah Hadith No. 4165)

When we study this claim in the light of the Quran, we find that the above hadith contradict a number of Quranic verses. Since the Prophet of God would not advocate anything that violates the Quran, these hadith are clearly lies falsely attributed to Prophet Muhammad.

The scholars who promote such a twisted interpretation of 2:223 are clearly trying to manipulate Quranic words in order to justify the hadith. By doing so, they are placing the hadith above the Quran!

When we read 2:223, we come across the key Arabic word "anna" (as you please). This word does not promote force nor permit the husband to virtually rape his wife at will! What this word means is that the husband and his wife are totally lawful for one another and can enjoy a healthy and varied sexual life between them as they please, in the manner designed by God.

To claim that the husband is allowed to force his wife into sex against her will is to violate a number of instructions in the Quran:

1-God prohibits all acts of aggression and violence in the Quran:

O you who believe, do not prohibit the good things which God has made lawful for you, and do not aggress; God does not like the aggressors.5:87

Forcing a wife to have sex against her will is an act of aggression, no matter how the hadith advocates try to soften it.

2-In addition, God commands the man to treat his wife kindly:

O you who believe, it is not lawful for you to forcefully seek to inherit from the women. You shall not force them to give up anything you had given them, unless they commit clear immorality. You shall live with them in kindness. If you dislike them, it may be that you dislike something wherein God has placed a lot of good.4:19

Needless to say, an act of rape is not an act of kindness!

3-Some among the same group of interpreters have tried to counter the above by saying that women are commanded in the Quran to obey their husbands at all times. In support, they quote the words in 4:34:

If they obey you, you are not to seek further action against them.4:34

As is often the case, the falsifiers will quote one verse in isolation and disregard other verses which must also be considered in order to derive a complete picture.

For that, the words in 4:34 are given further clarification in the following words:

O you Prophet, if the believing women come to you pledging allegiance to you that they will not associate anything with God, nor steal, nor commit adultery, nor kill their children, nor come up with falsehood which they have fabricated from between their hands and their legs,nor disobey you in any righteous matter; you shall accept their pledge and pray to God to forgive them. God is Forgiver, Merciful. 60:12

The underlined words in 60:12 are of great importance. They tell us is that even the Prophet was not given the right of absolute obedience from any woman who may come and pledge allegiance to him.

The words"righteous matter"are not coincidental, but give us a very deliberate and considered meaning.

These two words tell us that for any woman who pledges allegiance to the Prophet, her obligation is in obeying his righteous commands but she is not obliged to obey him in any unrighteous command.

If the Prophet was not granted such blind obedience, then naturally the same would apply to all other men.

It follows that if a man tries to force his wife, when God commanded him to treat her with kindness (4:19), this is classified as an unrighteous act that violates God's law, and thus his wife is not obliged to obey him. No blame falls on her for not obeying him in such a matter.

4-We read in the Quran that God created for us spouses and placed love and mercy between us:

And from among His signs is that He created for you spouses from yourselves that you may find tranquillity in them, and He placed love and mercy between you. In these are signs for people who reflect. 30:21

The manner in which the words in 2:223 have been manipulated have turned wives from being loving companions (as per 30:21) into sex objects that must obey and offer their bodies to their husbands whenever the command is issued, willingly or unwillingly!

The question that must be asked is: Would a man who loves and respects his wife ever force her to have sex when she is not willing? The answer to such a question may indeed be obvious and straightforward to all rational readers, but sadly this may be beyond the hadith enforcers, for sadly, their brains vibrate at a totally different frequency!